Rebirth and Realization
by angelgirlsko12
Summary: The game is over, but life goes on. As does Neku and Shiki's relationship, with MUCH help from their friends.
1. Rebirth

_Light_.

She blinked, and the world came into focus. Crowds of people walked the street in front of her. Indistinct chatter filled the air. A soft breeze blew through the air. She felt the comfort of Mr. Mew, who was safely in her arms, and hugged him tighter as she stood up. Looking around, she realized she was at the Statue of Hachiko.

Reaching up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear, she realized she was wearing glasses. As she looked down at the clothes she was wearing, it finally hit her.

_I'm…back. For real this time…_

Her thoughts were confirmed when a rather frustrated-looking kid looked her way. His face instantly turned to one of ecstasy when he saw her and he immediately ran towards her.

"Shiki!" Neku genuinely smiled as he came to a halt in front of her.

"Neku!" Shiki smiled as well.

"We're really…" Neku started excitedly, then stopped, as if he was afraid to believe it was true. "We're really back? This isn't just another Game?"

Shiki paused as she reconsidered her thoughts. She had regained her former appearance, but…what if it was all just another evil plot on the Reaper's behalf? Or Joshua's?

Just then, a small blonde girl approached them shouting, "Neku! Shiki! We're back! We're really back!"

"Rhyme!" Neku and Shiki both looked down at her, smiles lighting up their faces. "But where's—"

"HEY, YO!"

Rhyme giggled and motioned behind her. "He's catching up."

The three of them saw the top of Beat's head as he made his way through the sea of people. He stopped in front of the three of them, panting.

"RHYME, Y'KNOW! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO WAIT UP FOR ME, YO!"

The three of them laughed as Beat asked, "HEY! WHAT'S SO FUNNY?"

Neku stopped laughing first. As Shiki and Rhyme slowly stifled their giggles, he hesitantly asked, again:

"Are we really back now?"

"Yes," Rhyme said, immediately. "I'm completely sure of it."

"REALLY? HOW!?"

"Because," Rhyme continued, "As soon as Beat started shouting, a ton of people started looking at us. "

The three of them laughed yet again, while Beat's frustration continued.

Shortly after their laughter died down, realization hit. This was real, now. It was back to life as they used to know it.

"Hey, Beat?" Rhyme asked softly and cautiously. "We should probably head home to see Mom and Dad…they must be worried sick about us."

"Mom and Dad…" Beat thought about it for a short while before exclaiming, "BWAAAH! I RAN AWAY FROM HOME, RIGHT, YO?"

"Mmhmm…" Rhyme nodded, "But I'm sure it will—"

"It doesn't even matter anymore, yo."

Beat's voice had quieted considerably. As he looked down at the ground, he seemed contemplative and mature, for once. Looking up, he continued, "It doesn't matter why I was arguing with them, with Mom and Dad. I'm alive now, and maybe…it's time to start over again. I think I need to tell them…I'm sorry."

He took off in the direction of home impulsively, leaving Rhyme with the two…friends. They watched him go, yet no one made an attempt to stop him. Because for once, it seemed like Beat had actually thought things through and arrived at the right decision.

"Well," Rhyme said, looking at Beat's retreating figure. "I should probably follow him, or my parents will be worried."

She turned to face Shiki and Neku and asked, "When will we see each other again?"

"Soon." Neku said, unhesitantly. "I say…we meet up in a week , right here, and hang out as…"

He paused slightly, stumbling slightly over the last words.

"As friends."

Rhyme smiled. "Okay. I'll see you guys in a week, then."

She ran in the same direction Beat had taken off in, her, "good-bye" riding the wind back to Neku and Shiki over the countless conversations of the people surrounding them.

Neku and Shiki watched her disappear into the sea of people, not daring to look at each other. Neither one wanted to be the first to say "good-bye" to the other.

Neku stared off into the distance, deep in thought, reminiscing over the last three weeks. On the first day when he met Shiki. Boy had she been annoying, then! He recalled her never ending persistence in trying to understand him, despite the fact he stubbornly blocked her out those first few days. He remembered vividly her promise on their last day as partners. _I'll be waiting for you every day, in front of Hachiko… till you come back._

Perhaps he didn't know much about friendship, but he knew the few friends he had had in the past would never have promised him anything even vaguely close to Shiki's promise. He reasoned it only proved that she was a true friend; the one who would always be there for him. And maybe…even more?

He finally broke the silence.

"Shiki."

She looked up at him. He looked slightly taller than she remembered, but she supposed that was because Eri had been slightly taller than her as well. As Neku looked towards the sky as he searched for what he was trying to say, Shiki closed her eyes and thought about the past three weeks. Being with Neku, fightin the Noise with Neku. Arguing with him, trying to understand him as a person. He had even tried to kill her!

But then she remembered that she had been his price for the second Reaper's Game; she'd been the one thing he treasured most. That alone was enough to make her wonder…

As Neku finally found the words to say, Shiki threw her arms—and Mr. Mew—around him. Despite his apparent shock at her actions, Neku embraced her as well.

"Thanks, Neku. For everything." She hugged him tighter. "For being there for me these last three weeks."

"Thank _you, _Shiki," Neku countered, "For teaching me how… to be different from what I used to be."

He stepped back so he could look Shiki in the eye, though they still kept some semblance of an embrace. Their faces were so close they were nearly touching. Shiki blushed, and inwardly thought, _will he…?_

Everything he had been trying to say, Neku realized, could be summed up if he just did one little thing. _Man, have I changed. Who would've ever thought…?_

Pulling Shiki closer, he slowly closed the gap between them so their lips were nearly touching. As he finally mustered all the courage he could find to go through with that "one little thing", a high-pitched shout could be heard in the distance.

"SHIKI!"

Recognizing the voice, Shiki instinctively pulled away and turned towards it, though she felt bad immediately afterwards. _Neku…he was really going to…_

Neku had also turned to look at the owner of the voice and did a double take when he saw Shik—Eri (it was Eri, right?). Wanting to avoid the awkward encounter that was sure to occur (and still slightly peeved he had not been able to explain anything to Shiki), he loudly cleared his throat to get Shiki's attention.

She looked back at him, smiling, "You can meet Eri, now."

"As much as I'd like to…" Neku started. "…I don't think I'm ready to meet her, since…"

"Oh," Shiki said. Understanding his reasons, she replied, "…it's okay. Then I guess…I'll see you in a week?"

Neku nodded affirmatively. "You bet. See you soon."

He gave one last wave as he, too, disappeared into the crowd, just as Shiki's friend Eri came running up to Shiki and nearly ran her over trying to hug her.

"Shiki!" Eri exclaimed. "I've been looking everywhere for you! I'm really sorry about what I said…I didn't mean it in that way at all but I know you thought I did and I felt really bad afterwards so will you please forgive me? PLEASE?"

Shiki chuckled inwardly. "Of course I will. But I already know now that you didn't mean it in that way."

Eri squeezed her even tighter. "'Kay. Just making sure. I had a terrible nightmare last night in which you…you died."

"Well," Shiki said, comfortingly, "I'm alive now so there's no need to worry."

Eri finally loosened her hold on Shiki and smiled. "You're absolutely right. So…"

Her tone of voice turned to a more playful, teasing one.

"Who was that guy who was about to kiss you?"

Neku looked back at Shiki and Eri. He was glad Shiki was seeing her best friend again.

Still slightly disappointed at not being able to do that "one little thing", he reasoned that they'd meet again in a week. _We have our whole future ahead of us now. Heck, we got our lives back! We're not in some stupid Game anymore! Time…we have all the time in the world._

Still, he couldn't wait to meet up with all his friends in 7 days. Well, almost all of them. His thoughts temporarily shifted to Joshua. He hadn't been there for Neku like Shiki and Beat had. But in the end, Joshua was a friend when it counted the most. And that, for now, was good enough.

_ I haven't forgiven him yet. But I do trust him. Maybe he'll show up at Hachiko next week. Maybe…I'll see him there?_

He could've sworn he heard Joshua's chuckle in the breeze.


	2. Realization Part I

_"Who was that guy who was about to kiss you?"_

Eri expectantly looked at her best friend for an answer. Her large eyes looked so excited, Shiki almost wanted to tell her everything: about actually dying, about the Reaper's Game, about stealing her appearance (well…maybe she'd leave that part out), and most importantly, about meeting Neku and the rest of her new friends.

But there was no way Eri would believe her.

So, she figured she would tell Eri the truth. Or, at least, part of it. It wasn't technically lying if she left some…er, most of the parts out, right?

"I met him a little while ago at the Statue of Hachiko. His name is Neku. Neku Sakuraba. "

Eri looked at her incredulously.

"THAT'S IT? THAT'S ALL THE YOU'RE GOING TO TELL ME!? GOSH SHIKI I'M YOUR BEST FRIEND!"

Shiki stared blankly at her friend. What else was there to tell? That was the simple answer to her question. "Uh…we're meeting again in a week so you can meet him then?"

She watched as Eri slowly calmed down and lowered her voice a notch.

"I mean, how did you meet? What's he like? Why did he leave when I shouted your name? When did you guys start dating? How—"

At the sound of that one word, Shiki's face turned beet red. "Hold on, hold on, I never said we were dating…"

As the words left her mouth, her best friend's jaw dropped and her already round eyes grew even rounder. "How can you two NOT be dating?"

She looked Shiki in the eyes with such intensity, Shiki was afraid of what would come next.

"I mean, I saw the two of you standing there for awhile and I've never seen you even talk to a guy before let alone let him embrace you and ALMOST kiss you and judging from the look in your eyes it was EVIDENT that you feel strongly for him and He clearly likes you romantically too because…"

She continued her reasoning, talking more to herself than to Shiki. Shiki buried her face in Mr. Mew, drawing comfort from his presence. She was sure her face would be a raspberry by the time her friend finished. As the sociable one of the two of them, Eri could talk for hours. Shiki had seen it before, and there was no doubt it could and would happen again.

_Can't we talk about something else?_ She thought to herself._ Isn't there anything else Eri would rather talk about…?_

_…Designs!_

"Hey, Eri?"

At the sound of her name, the girl briefly stopped the flow of words coming from her mouth and turned to Shiki.

"Do you have any new designs? You know…anything I could start sewing?"

Judging from the look on her face, Eri was just about ready to explode yet again. Shiki breathed a sigh of relief, however, when her friend took on a contemplative stance and lost all signs of her former irritation.

"Actually, now that I think about it…" Eri stood deep in thought for a minute longer. Her face lit up. "Yeah! I do actually have a design for you! Wanna head back to my place so I can show it to you?"

Shiki nodded immediately. Anything to get Eri to stop talking about it.

_Why does this place have to have so many doors?_

The orange-haired teenager quickly readjusted his violet headphones while he walked by the many whitewashed doors that lined the hallway. Eyeing the metal number plates on each door, he continued to search for the one door that led to his own dwelling.

_I've only been gone for three weeks_, he thought to himself. _You'd think I'd be able to find my own apartment_.

Luckily, his mom was a welcoming and homely person, and had installed a silver name plate that read "Sakuraba" above the four numbers. That, along with the rather flowery and unique "welcome" mat she had placed outside their apartment door greatly aided him in his quest. After wandering aimlessly in the large apartment complex for little over five minutes, he found the familiar name plate. Finding his house key in one of the many pockets sewn into his white shorts, he quickly inserted the key in the lock and opened the door.

He was greeted with the sight of his mom, humming to herself in the kitchen while washing the dishes. Her orange-colored hair, the same hair she had passed on to her son, was tucked neatly behind her ears and tied in a low ponytail. Preoccupied with her current task, she failed to notice Neku as he removed his shoes, closed the front door behind him, and walked past the dark granite counter where she was scrubbing away.

"Hi, Mom," greeted the typically silent teen rather absentmindedly as he continued walking towards his room. As soon as the words left his mouth, the sound of running water as well as his mom's humming stopped abruptly.

"Neku," she said quizzically. "You never say anything when you get back home from your outings."

Neku froze where he was. Of course, as his mother, she would notice even the slightest change in her son's disposition. _Oh, snap!_

He turned to face her from where he was standing and mustered his "couldn't care less" voice. "So?"

She cocked her head slightly and replied, "So…did something happen today? Anything out of the ordinary?"

Thoughts of the past three weeks swirled through his mind. Of the Reaper's Game and of dying. Of his new friends and his change for the better. Of Shiki…his especially close new friend. But his mom wouldn't understand…not now.

"No," he retorted. He turned to continue walking to his room which was just at the end of the hallway.

"Are you sure? You didn't do anything dangerous? Any death defying experiences? Or anything even plain stupid?" She asked overprotectively.

_Jeez, she is perceptive!_ "Uh, yeah I'm sure."

"Okay…just making sure. You haven't been the same since…" Her voice trailed off as she got lost in her own thoughts.

Knowing what she was going to say next, he pressed the play button on his Ipod, made sure his headphones were fitted snugly over his ears, and made a hasty escape to his room.

Shiki breathed in the flowery smell of air freshener that always permeated Eri's room. She briefly took it all in. The pale pink walls painted in Eri's favorite color. Eri's bed with its colorful and stylish bedspread as well as the multitudes of pillows that sat atop it. The cluttered white desk where the sewing machine, various sewing tools, and a few pages of Eri's designs sat. And Eri's awesome walk in closet that held the many outfits they had collaborated on over the years, as well as a few bolts of fabric that were awaiting use in one of their future projects.

_I've only been gone for a few weeks…but it's so nice to be here again…_

"Shiki!" Eri's insistent voice snapped her back to attention. Eri motioned for her to come over to the desk where she was smoothing out a rather crumpled piece of paper.

Shiki made her way over to the desk and wondered why the page was so crumpled. After all, Eri always liked to be organized and as perfect as possible.

Setting Mr. Mew down on a pile of Eri's designs, Shiki finally got a good look at the rumpled sheet. She gasped. Looking excitedly at the giggling Eri, she asked, "Is this…my design?"

She had never finished the design she made that day. After hastily drawing the outline of a dress and attempting to turn it into something someone would actually want to wear, that one comment from Eri shattered her spirit and she had instantly trashed her attempt and grudgingly continued sewing the project she had been working on. Eri had evidently seen how hurt Shiki felt that day and saved the design from disposal. Although, looking at it now, the dress seemed a lot more fashionable than the one she had initially designed.

"I basically took the design you made," Shiki stated, evidently happy with herself, "And tweaked it a little bit, but it's still technically your design."

Looking at the sheet before her, Shiki found it hard to believe Eri. The dress design in front of her was far better than the one she had designed three weeks ag—yesterday. Though she could still tell that it had been her design, Eri had added embellishments and changed the sleeves among other things. It was far better than anything Shiki could've come up with.

"Eri, it's really your design if anything. You did most of the—"

"Shiki, look at it this way," Eri said, putting her hand on her best friend's shoulder and flashing a brilliant smile. "It was YOUR idea. I just refined it a bit."

Looking up at Eri, Shiki felt a sense of gratitude towards her encouraging friend. She looked down at the hard dark lines that she had drawn and the light, feathery lines Eri had penciled in on top. Turning to her best friend, she gave her a tight hug. "Thank you. But you still helped with the design a lot. This'll just be a design we worked on…together."

Eri seemed to deem this acceptable. As Shiki examined the dress design more closely to determine how she would go about sewing it, she continued talking to Eri.

"You know, I actually designed this dress for you…so what color do you want it to be? We have some pink fabric, right?" She knew Eri's go-to color for anything and everything was pink. Shiki herself was not a big fan of the color, but it was for Eri, so…

"Umm…actually, I was thinking maybe we'd go with a different color, like maybe an emerald green?"

Green was actually Shiki's favorite color. But…

"We can't do green. You always say that that particular shade of green is your worst color." In all honestly Shiki thought Eri looked great no matter WHAT color she was wearing but who was she to disagree with her best friend, otherwise known as the most fashionable girl in their school?

"Oh…right. I forgot about that." Eri smiled sheepishly and thought about it for a moment longer. "Then how about…purple? Like maybe a lavender?"

Shiki pushed her glasses up higher on her nose and took a moment to think about it. _Actually…that would look really nice…_

"Do we have any purple fabric, though?" She inquired.

"No, but I'll go buy some tomorrow," Eri said, "So don't worry about it. I'm thinking…um, well, I'm going to need this dress for something at the end of the week. Do you think you'll be able to finish it by then? I'll try to help in any way I can!"

_End of the week…if I work on it consistently I know I'll be able to finish it…_

"I think I can do it…help would be nice though," Shiki laughed. Anything for her best friend.

"So what can I help with now?"

Shiki chuckled. "Well, I can't really do much without fabric, but…I was thinking maybe it would look nice if we add some rhinestones along here." Shiki paused to trace the area on the design. "And here." She traced another part of the design. She looked at Eri, waiting for approval.

"Omigosh Shiki! That's a great idea!" Eri hugged her raven-haired friend. "What size rhinestones do you think we should use?"

"Well, I thought maybe…"

The two of them continued their discussion on the dress they had designed until sunset, when Shiki had to head home. As she was walking back, clutching Mr. Mew protectively against her chest, she smiled to herself. After those three weeks, she had finally learned. Eri saw her as an amazing friend, the same way Shiki saw Eri. Any and all of her misconceptions were entirely gone.

_I'm so glad Eri's my best friend._


End file.
